McDonnells convicted of corruption

Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were convicted of corruption charges Thursday at the end of a dramatic, emotional trial that pitted husband against wife and destroyed the political future of a Republican once considered presidential material.

The couple both cried as the guilty verdicts were read in the federal courthouse in Richmond.

Text Size

PHOTOS: McDonnell trial

Federal prosecutor, FBI agent remarks after McDonnell verdict

McDonnell attorney reacts to guilty verdict

The ex-governor and his wife were accused of trading official government favors to businessman Jonnie Williams for more than $165,000 in loans and gifts, including a Rolex watch, luxurious vacations, a Ferrari ride and a $20,000 New York City shopping spree. Jurors convicted Bob McDonnell on all 11 corruption counts; Maureen McDonnell was found guilty of eight corruption counts as well as an obstruction of justice charge. They were both acquitted on charges of lying on loan documents.

The McDonnells could face lengthy prison terms and hefty fines; the sentencing is set to take place on Jan. 6, according to news reports. McDonnell defense attorney Hank Asbill told reporters that the couple will appeal the verdicts. The former governor himself made a brief comment outside the court, telling reporters: “All I can say is my trust belongs in the Lord.”

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department said the conviction should be considered a strong warning against public corruption.

“In pursuit of a lifestyle that they could ill afford, McDonnell and his wife eagerly accepted luxury items, designer clothes, free vacations and the businessman’s offer to pay the costs of their daughter’s wedding,” Caldwell said in a statement. “In return, McDonnell put the weight of the governor’s mansion behind the businessman’s corporate interests. The former governor was elected to serve the people of Virginia, but his corrupt actions instead betrayed them.”

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, in a statement after the verdict, said, “It was a case that I thought was well-tried by the people in the Eastern District of Virginia and a case that was appropriately brought.”

Many observers initially thought it would be challenging to convict McDonnell on all of the corruption charges.

Virginia had very lax gift laws for public officials when McDonnell was in office — there have since been some attempts to make them tougher — and the prosecution’s star witness was Williams, who received immunity to testify. But earlier this week, Judge James R. Spencer opposed the defense by more broadly defining what it meant for the governor to provide “official acts” to Williams, a decision that could have affected the deliberations of the jury of seven men and five women.

The former governor reportedly rejected a deal in which he would have pleaded guilty to one felony charge, with his wife unaffected and no threat of trial.

The eventual trial painted a vivid picture of Bob and Maureen McDonnell’s marital and financial problems, challenges that appeared to intensify as Bob McDonnell’s star rose in the Republican Party. The former governor was considered a possible running mate for Mitt Romney in 2012 and a potential White House contender himself one day.

In a state that has prided itself on good government and conciliatory politics, McDonnell is the first governor to be tried for a crime, and now the first to be convicted.

“I am deeply saddened by the events of the trial that ended in today’s verdict, and the impact it has had on our Commonwealth’s reputation for honesty and clean government,” Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, said in a statement.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), a former governor, called it “a sad day for Virginia.” “I have known and worked with Bob McDonnell for more than 20 years, and my thoughts today are with Bob, Maureen, and their children,” he said in a statement. “I urge all Virginians to keep the McDonnell family in their prayers.”

The trial was littered with stunning and salacious moments. From the start, the defense team cast Maureen McDonnell as the villain, saying she was the mastermind behind conversations and agreements with Williams, who was promoting a dietary supplement called Anatabloc.

Defense attorneys said the governor, who was busy with both state and national political duties, was removed from his wife’s day-to-day dealings, and that Maureen McDonnell — who was not an elected official and in theory had fewer official favors to offer — had a “crush” on Williams and was hardly speaking to her husband. The strategy, which the jury apparently didn’t buy, was to scuttle the notion that the unhappy couple could have conspired to commit corrupt acts.

The defense’s argument was unpacked by family members, including some of the five McDonnell children; former staffers and McDonnell himself. In one of the more striking moments of the trial, McDonnell walked the jury through an email he sent to his wife, pleading with her to help save their marriage even as he accused her of threatening to “wreck” his things, and decrying the “fiery anger and hate” she directed toward him. He also said that he often worked late to avoid having to deal with his wife.

Maureen McDonnell, who didn’t testify, was depicted as demanding, irrational and possibly mentally ill. The two were living apart during the trial, the ex-governor revealed. At least one of his daughters cried on the witness stand as she testified about her wedding, for which she accepted a $15,000 gift from Williams. Another was called on to affirm the broken state of her parents’ marriage.

Prosecutors, however, sought to show that the McDonnell marriage was doing just fine, displaying records of 18 trips the pair took together in the span of 22 months and flashing photographs of the two holding hands. And they meticulously detailed the ex-governor’s interactions with Williams, displaying documents, phone logs, texts and emails on the screen for jurors to see.

They provided an in-depth chronology, seeking to show that on several occasions, minutes after a conversation with Williams, McDonnell made an ask on the businessman’s behalf. Sometimes it was asking for a meeting, other times it was checking on the status of studies of Williams’ product at state universities.

At the same time, the prosecutors constantly reminded jurors about the extravagant gifts in play.

McDonnell maintained that anything he did for Williams fell under the category of “routine” work for a constituent or donor; that he wasn’t aware of the extent of the gifts; and that those gifts and loans he did accept fell within the boundaries of Virginia’s then-lax gift laws.

Josh Gerstein, James Hohmann and David Nather contributed to this report.